STALLWORTH: When churches mimic government

Although I understand them, there are three elements of society that never cease to amaze me – government, church and people.

I am continuously awed by the government becoming unyieldingly bureaucratic, churches becoming secularly competitive, and people unabashedly becoming selfish and egocentric builders of their own little kingdoms. Not only am I amazed, but I am often woefully discouraged.

I find it fascinating that the absence of public trust is what continues to spur and sustain bureaucracy. In other words, because “common trust” among men and women has become “uncommon,” the need for an ever-increasing matrix of governmental systems to ensure everyone is doing the right thing has become the unfortunate answer.

Because of how distrusting society has become toward itself, it’s difficult to believe that at one time in history people actually indulged and relied upon the once common practice of “good faith.” A person’s solemn word was their bond. Agreements were solidified with a handshake and a look in the eye. Nowadays, there is virtually no good faith, no handshake, and no look in the eye.

Today, people would rather turn and look away from each other, apparently in search of big government to provide the trust they lack in each other. Ironically, because the bureaucracies within the government don’t trust each other either, they create mechanisms of assurance to police themselves, which, of course, further justifies and perpetuates their self-sustaining existence.

As for the church, I am amazed by its sad imitation of the world. Within the world, where Almighty God has allowed Satan to reign as the biblically noted Prince of the Power of the Air, the spirit of competition is commonplace. In fact, the spirit of competition is expected and has become rampant in the world. No doubt, we live in a dog-eat-dog world. It’s sad to observe that the church, at least sometimes, forgets it’s supposed to be different than the world.

Today, we observe where people within the church are proprietary about what they think belongs to them. Within the realm of the Christendom, which means the worldwide community of Christians, people who truly love and seek to serve Christ should embrace the scripture that says, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” – Ephesians 4:5-6.

Instead of emulating this scripture, some pastors of today competitively lay personal claim to the vineyards, pastures, and sheep they have been assigned by Almighty God, as though they are the rightful proprietors and not God. Ideally, there should be no such thing as competition or a secular need of “non-compete” clauses within churches and entities representing Christ.

To lovingly spread the Gospel, every Christian should desire there to be a church and a school open in the name of Jesus on every corner. However, sadly this is viewed by some as competition.

Lastly, I am still amazed by how people, especially Christians, still stumble into the mistake of Adam and Eve who desired to be their own little gods within their own kingdom, resulting in their fall from grace.